They say that timing your retirement just right is the hardest thing for most sportsmen. But Allan McNish nailed it, bowing out after 32 years of racing as the reigning World Endurance champion and after sealing his third Le Mans win in the 2013 event.

However, with media work for the BBC covering Formula One, and his role as an ambassador for Audi Sport, he is maintaining his involvement in motorsport. And when we catch up he has just returned from Spa, overseeing the progression of the next generation of Audi endurance racers. “I hope I can help and guide them as David Leslie and Jackie Stewart did with me earlier in my career,” he says.

McNish’s hugely successful sportscar racing career came off the back of his biggest racing disappointment. In 1996, after a superb year in F3000 and acing an Indy Car test, he ended up losing out on the drive in the US at the last minute. “I’d left it so late I couldn’t get another drive that following season. It was a big blow to my confidence and, I thought, career. Then Porsche came along with an opportunity for their sportscar project and I grabbed it with both hands.

“Suddenly I felt like so much more than just an interchangeable ‘spacer’ between the steering wheel and the seat. Sportscar teams are different. You are truly part of a team and often a long term team project,” explains McNish.

The following year, in 1998, McNish won Le Mans in the Porsche GT1 alongside Laurent Aiello and Stephane Ortelli. Since then, he has led the race at some point every single year, recording two more outright victories (plus an impressive nine podiums).

“The event changes every year. In ’98 it was about consistency and reliability. But now you have to factor in sheer pace. In 2011, lap times between the top cars were only a tenth of a second apart. It is so tight, you can’t just coast.”

With night racing, variable weather and massive speed differentials between the prototypes and the lower class GT cars, the race can dish up drama from start to finish.

“You have to be adaptable and agile – you know something will crop up during the race… but you never know what, or when: if a rival has a problem you have to exploit it, if you have an issue, you have to minimise it. And you have to keep sight of the end game all the time. That balance between attacking from the off and making it to the end of the race is really difficult and not something you learn quickly.”

Le Mans is an endurance event for both man and machine. Drivers have an intense build up to the race and McNish admits that his high-energy persona wasn’t ideally suited to the discipline. “I was rubbish at it," he recalls. "I was ill for a week after the 1998 event because I was so drained. You have to learn how to conserve energy, how to avoid getting involved in the emotional turmoil of the race. It’s not physically draining as such but mentally, emotionally, it takes every ounce of energy.

“So my routine later on was to get out of the car then debrief with the engineers. Change, shower, massage, food and rest. For the whole build up, too, I’m thinking about conserving my energy, saving it for when it matters.”

McNish admits that there was little opportunity to enjoy the wider Le Mans experience as a driver. “Le Mans is a carnival with a race in the middle of it. As a driver, the night before the race you want rest and an early night. Not to be spending the evening in an open top car, in the rain, driving through town. But that atmosphere and tradition is so much part of Le Mans. It has to be kept and preserved.

“There is a warmth and camaraderie between teams at Le Mans. Last year Toyota came into our hospitality area and congratulated us. There is respect among everybody – whether your personal Everest is to get to the race, finish the race or, like us, to win the race.”

For 2014 Allan will be present for the first time as a non-participant. “This year I’m looking forward to soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the event in a different way. Dindo (Rinaldo Capello, McNish’s driving partner in seven consecutive Le Mans) and I plan to have a ‘boy’s week’ to Le Mans some time in the future and take our own sons along to experience the magic of it.”